Phillies Clinch the National League Pennant
Phillies heading to the World Series for second year in a row
By ROB MAADDI
Updated 5:19 AM EDT, Thu, Oct 22, 2009
Ryan Howard and the defending champs are back in the World Series -- proving last year was no fluke and looking even more dangerous this time around.
"We just believed," Howard said.
Jayson Werth homered twice, Shane Victorino and Pedro Feliz also connected and the Phillies beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 10-4 in Game 5 on Wednesday night to win their second straight NL pennant.
Brad Lidge closed it out, Howard was selected NL championship series MVP and the Phils became the first team to reach consecutive World Series since the New York Yankees in 2000-01.
"I can get used to it," manager Charlie Manuel told a cheering crowd. "We got one more step and we're going to get it!"
They'll go for their third World Series title beginning next Wednesday night at New York or Los Angeles. The Yankees lead the Angels 3-1 in the ALCS, which resumes Thursday night at Angel Stadium.
"We got one more step," Howard said. "Then we got action!"
Fireworks exploded over Citizens Bank Park after Victorino caught a fly ball for the final out. The NL East champions, who beat Colorado in four games in the opening round, met Lidge in the middle of the diamond to celebrate and began putting on hats with the stitched-in logo of "WS2009."
"Big games call for big times," Werth said. "Hopefully, we can keep it going. We've got four more games to win."
Five pitchers tossed 4 2-3 strong innings in relief of an ineffective Cole Hamels, who hasn't been the dominant ace he was last postseason. Chad Durbin earned the win by retiring all four batters he faced, including Manny Ramirez representing the tying run in the fifth.
"They were better than us," Ramirez said. "You saw what they were capable of doing."
Lidge, who has bounced back from a rough season with spotless work in the playoffs, tossed a scoreless ninth.
"I always believed it was going to turn around," he said. "One of the biggest things was I was started to feel really healthy at the end of the season."
Hamels allowed three runs and five hits in 4 1-3 innings. Still, he got a standing ovation on his way to the dugout.
This will be Philadelphia's seventh trip to the World Series in 127 years. The Phillies beat Kansas City in 1980 and lost in 1915, 1950, 1983 and 1993. The Yankees swept Philadelphia in '50, winning the first three games of that series by one run.
Copyright Associated Press / NBC Miami
First Published: Oct 21, 2009 9:59 PM EDT on NBC Philadelphia
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